Yuji Naka

Yuji Naka

Yuji Naka, also known as YU2, is a video game designer, programmer, the former head of Sonic Team, and currently the head of the video game development company, Prope.

History

When Yuji Naka was 17 years old, he decided that he wanted to program video games. He owed this fascination to Ryuichi Sakamotos "Yellow Magic Orchestra" program, which allowed the composition of music on your computer.

Being a large fan of Namco, Yuji Naka aimed to work for them after he graduated from college. However, Namco only accepted work from university graduates, and thus Yuji Naka would not be eligible as he did not want to go to university.

He did however score a job at Sega as a programming assistant. His first release was a game for the SG-1000 Mark III called Girl's Garden, but his massive breathrough wasn't far off. In 1990 Yuji Naka, along with Naoto Oshima and Hirokazu Yasuhara began work on the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Naka became a leading programmer for the newly founded "Sonic Team" which would be the team in control of most projects featuring Sega's mascot. After the completion of Sonic 2, he became the producer of Sonic Team.

On March 16, 2006 it was announced that Naka would be creating his own game studio, independant of Sega. Naka left Sega to set up this studio, called Prope, but has since come back as a consultant for various Sega Titles, including Sonic the Hedgehog titles.

Production History

• Girl's Garden — Lead Programmer
• Great Baseball — Programmer
• F-16 Fighting Falcon — Lead Programmer
• Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) — Programmer
• Space Harrier (1985) — Lead Programmer
• Outrun - Lead Programmer
• Spy vs. Spy (1986) — Lead Programming
• Phantasy Star (1988) — Lead Programmer ("Muuu Yuji")
• Super Thunderblade — Lead Programmer
• Phantasy Star II (1989) — Producer, Lead Programmer ("Muuu Yuji")
• Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (1990) — Special Thanks
• Dai Makai Mura (aka "Ghouls & Ghosts") (1990) — Lead Programmer
• Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) — Programmer ("Yu2")
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) — Lead Programmer
• Sonic Spinball (1993) — A Special Bow to
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• Sonic & Knuckles (1994) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• NiGHTS into Dreams (1996) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• Christmas NiGHTS (1996) — Producer, Programmer
• Sonic 3D Blast (1996) — Advisor
• Sonic Jam (1997) — Producer
• Sonic R (1997) — General Producer, Supervisor
• Burning Rangers (1998) — Producer
• Sonic Adventure (1999) — Producer
• ChuChu Rocket! (2000) — Producer, Director
• Samba de Amigo (2000) — Producer
• Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (2000) — Supervisor, Producer
• Samba de Amigo Ver.2000 (2000) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online (2001) — Producer
• ChuChu Rocket! (GBA) (2001) — Producer, Director
• Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online Ver.2 (2001) — Producer
• Sonic Advance (2002) — Producer
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (2002) — Producer
• Sonic Mega Collection (2002) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 (2002) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 Plus (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Advance 2 (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Pinball Party (2003) — Producer
• Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Battle (2004) — Producer
• Sonic Heroes (2004) — Producer
• Sonic Advance 3 (2004) — Producer
• Feel the Magic XY/XX (2004) — Chief Producer
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) — Producer
• Puyo Pop Fever (GBA Version) (2004) — Producer
• Sonic Gems Collection (2005) — Chief Producer
• Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) — Producer
• Sonic Rush (2005) — Producer
• Sonic Riders (2006) — Executive Producer
• Phantasy Star Universe (2006) — Executive Producer
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) — Original Executive Producer
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) — Original Executive Producer
• NiGHTS into Dreams (PS2 Version) (2008) — Special Thanks

Interviews

Being the producer of most of Sonic's games has earned Yuji Naka the rights to many interviews with those in the gaming industry. Some of those interviews may be found below (courtesy of Sonic World):

• Oct. 1992 - Sega Visions Interview with Yuji Naka
• Dec. 1996 - Sega.com Interview on Yuji Naka's life
• July 31, 1999 - NextGenOnline Interview regarding sequels
• Aug. 9, 1999 - GameWeek Interview with Naka on piracy, emulation
• Oct. 1, 1999 - IGNDC Intereview with Yuji Naka
• Nov. 30, 1999 - FutureGamez Interview with Yuji Naka about Sonic Team
• Jan. 3, 2000 - Core Magazine Interview with Yuji Naka
• Feb. 9, 2000 - ODCM Interview with Yuji Naka